Mark Bellinghaus

Mark Bellinghaus (born July 20, 1963), is a Marilyn Monroe activist and a collector of Monroe memorabilia. Bellinghaus is also a blogger, and "first rate skeptical investigator"
Early life in Germany
Mark Bellinghaus was born in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. His father, Meinhard Koenig, died at age 36 of heart disease, when Bellinghaus was 2 years old. At age 6, he was sent to an Evangelical boys-only boarding school in Traben-Trarbach. When he was 9, he saw a cut-out of Marilyn Monroe from How to Marry a Millionaire ("where she’s in front of those three mirrors and looks so magnificent"). In 1986/87 Bellinghaus signed a guest contract at the Residenz Theatre, home of the Bavarian State Theatre, next to the National Theatre in Munich, where he appeared in three theatre productions (Life of Galileo by Bertolt Brecht, Edmond by David Mamet, and Heinrich by Tankred Dorst).
In 1988 he played Rüdiger Burkhard in an episode of the hit show Verkehrsgericht (Traffic Court). In 1989, he was the lead in Flaming Armadillo, a made-for-TV movie, produced by SRG. In 1990, he was the lead in Pal Erdoss' Pokok (Spiders), a German/Hungarian co-production, playing with Camilla Horn and Alice Treff. Also in 1990, he starred as Volodja in the play Dear Jelena Sergejevna, directed by Ute Richter, at the Zimmertheater in Heidelberg. During this time, he guest starred in several TV shows.
In 1991 he played actress Meret Becker's brother Kurti, in the multiple award-winning Fremde, liebe Fremde (Foreigner, Dear Foreigner). In 1993, he played Malte Borrell in the TV show SOKO 5113. He played Knut Sonntag in the hit TV show Immer wieder Sonntag, written by Herbert Lichtenfeld.
The U.S. and Monroe
In 1995 Bellinghaus emigrated to the United States to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Los Angeles, a city he chose because it was where Marilyn Monroe used to live (and the college because Monroe had attended the Lee Strasberg in New York). In September 2007, Mark Bellinghaus formed Marilyn Monroe Productions, LLC, with Ernest W. Cunningham and Jennifer J. Dickinson.
Queen Mary exhibition
CMG Worldwide is a licensing company that owns the rights to a number of past stars such as James Dean, including (jointly with Anna Strasberg) most Monroe images. One of Bellinghaus's goals is to make her images available to all and public domain. consisting of 350 items owned by a Chicago collector, Robert W. Otto, although authentication doubts had caused the Hollywood Entertainment Museum to turn it down. and the show was successfully inaugurated on 10 November 2005, with a panel discussion held by CMG CEO Mark Roesler, Hugh Hefner, Robert Otto, Mary Jane Popp and June DiMaggio (DiMaggio had been the source for 30 of the show items).
Bellinghaus was joined by 68-year-old Ernest W. Cunningham, the author of a book, The Ultimate Marilyn, who feels equally strongly about Monroe ("It’s as though they’re talking about your mother or sister"), and says that they were brushed off by the Long Beach Police Department when they reported their findings. Two months later, Bellinghaus published his second blog, this time co-authored with Ernest Cunningham, and titled "Marilyn Monroe Exhibit Exposed As $8.75 Million Lie".
His blog was picked up and mentioned by other websites like Defamer and MetaFilter. Michael Shermer's eSkeptic magazine partly reprinted Bellinghaus' blog and also praised the author's debunking of psychic James van Praagh.
Subsequently he was interviewed by KCAL-TV news about his claims. The Clairol hair curlers were removed from the exhibition, as well as some other items he had named as fake. After this, the show's planned tour was canceled. He hired an attorney to file a lawsuit, but was not the plaintiff. This lawsuit was scheduled to take place at Los Angeles Superior Court on 7 May 2007, partly funded by Bellinghaus. The case was settled after the judge dismissed the class action claim and the claim against Mark Roesler.
A world tour of 'Marilyn Monroe: The Exhibit,' which was originally planned to last twelve years, and tour at least 39 cities globally, was subsequently canceled. 15 June 2006 was the final day of the exhibition. Michael Shermer called Bellinghaus's actions a "brilliant exposé".
Other disputes
In December 2006, Bellinghaus and Cunningham questioned the authenticity of Marilyn, Joe and Me, a book and prospective movie by June DiMaggio and Mary Jane Popp, who deny they were involved in the Queen Mary exhibition.
Videos on YouTube, purportedly filmed at a memorial service on August 5, 2007, commemorating the forty-fifth anniversary of Monroe's death, show Bellinghaus "shouting obscenities at bystanders and demanding that the police be called". Bellinghaus said the collection was not genuine and that the dresses were never worn by Monroe. The exhibition organiser, Andrew Hansford stated that the memorabilia are "100 per cent genuine".
In April 2008, Bellinghaus, Cunningham and Dickinson dismissed as fake the discovery of a Marilyn Monroe sex tape.
In October 2008, Vanity Fair's 25th anniversary issue had Monroe on the cover and a feature article detailing the history of two filing cabinets full of Monroe documents and personal items. One of these was the typewriter, said to be used by her to write letters to leading figures: Bellinghaus wrote an article pointing out that Monroe could not type, as well as pointing out inconsistencies with other items featured. Carmen's son questioned Bellinghaus' credibility and motivations.<ref namemayhem/><ref nameOCReg1/>
Notes and references

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